Sly Bailey gets R-sy

Thursday 15 March 2012 10.44 EDT
First published on Thursday 15 March 2012 10.44 EDT

Sly Bailey side-stepped discussion about her bumper remuneration package while discussing Trinity Mirror's 2011 financial performance today, brushing aside a question on a media call by joking that "R" stands for results, not remuneration. Investors have been critical of Bailey poiting out that she has pocketed more than £12m while running the Daily Mirror publisher over the past nine years, despite its share price plummeting 90%. Bailey,who revealed a 40% fall in pre-tax profits last year, swept aside discussion of her bonus, which is linked to Trinity Mirror's performance, as not the sort of thing to be talked about in a results presentation. She said her salary – Bailey took home a base pay of £736,000 in 2010 – would be frozen this year but offered no further insight into what the board may be planning for her bonus following speculation that she might forgo it. Her total remuneration package of £1.66m in 2010 included a £660,000 bonus in a year when profits tripled. "If you did want to speak about remuneration I could make the chairman available," she said. "He would be happy to discuss it."